In The Still of the Night
by Catherine Chen
Summary: The long awaited second Anya-Dimitri story. Takes place during their time on the ship. It is much harder to fight mutual attraction while sharing a bed... But it's only to keep her safe. Right? Cute and romantic. Please READ AND REVIEW! Much love, Cat
1. I'll hope and I'll pray to keep you

What to do when the woman you love insists on sneaking out of her bed in the middle of the night and jumping off the ship? Well, here's what I think…Please READ and REVIEW!!! Much love, Cat

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"Dimitri, I cannot allow this," protested Vlad as he watched his friend push the trunk up against the side of the lower bunk.

"You can argue as much as you want, Vlad but it won't make a difference," the younger man responded as he tossed his mattress over the makeshift bed and added his blanket and the pillows he had managed to charm out of the captain's wife.

"Neither of you is married, and as a single gentleman you cannot share her bed without doing irreparable damage to her reputation," Vlad said sternly.

"Relax, no one outside of this room will know and it's not like I have anything but the purest of intentions. I need to keep an eye on her and this is the best way to do so. Who knows when she'll want to go traipsing out in the middle of the night again so she can fling herself off the side of the ship?" said Dimitri dryly.

"Yes, well…it isn't proper," finished Vlad lamely.

"I could care less about propriety if it keeps her alive. Besides, I don't hear her objecting," Dimitri pointed out.

"That's because I haven't told her yet," said Vlad quietly.

Dimitri stopped adjusting his new bed and swung back to his friend. "You haven't told her yet?" he asked worriedly, his stomach plunging to his boots when the shake of Vlad's head confirmed that Dimitri had heard him correctly and he was about to be confronted by the shrewish version of Anya that appeared whenever he told her about a new development in their plan to make her a grand duchess.

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So, there it is. The long awaited second Anya-Dimitri story. I hope you're happy. I know it took me a while, but when inspiration hits, it hits, and when it doesn't well…nothing happens. Fortunately for you, Thalia and Erato have released me from slavishly writing Greek mythology and have let me return to you. So, show your appreciation with lots of lovely REVIEWS!!!


	2. Promise I'll never let you go

"No," she repeated adamantly. "Absolutely not."

"Anya, do have to always be this difficult?" he said with a heavy sigh.

"Do you always have to be so rude and insensitive? You know most people find me rather amiable, it's only you I don't get along well with," she pointed out.

"I wonder why that is," Vlad muttered under his breath to Pooka with a smile.

"Did you say something, Vlad?" asked Dimitri offhandedly, his attention focused on the infuriating woman before him.

Vlad sighed. "Really, Anya, as much as I understand your concerns, you have nothing to be concerned about. Dimitri will be nothing but a perfect gentleman and you already know how heavily he sleeps. There is nothing to fear from him."

"I can't believe this!" she cried, stalking to the side of the ship angrily, before returning, her color high and the more serviceable dress Dimitri had bought her to wear when she wasn't in the pretty blue one whipping around her legs. "Did you have this planned from the very beginning? I'll give you one thing…this is quite an elaborate trick to get me into your bed."

Dimitri's lips twisted wryly. "Trust me, Anya, I don't need any ruses to get a woman into my bed."

Something about the look in his eyes unnerved her. "I…I just can't," she said softly.

He was no match for this show of vulnerability. "Ah, Anya," he murmured gently, settling his hands on the sides of her face and tilting her head up to his. "I would never do anything that wasn't in your best interests."

Anya stared at him for a long time, seeming to search his eyes for some sign of his sincerity before nodding briskly. "Fine, just try not to snore so loudly."

"I do not snore!" he shouted at her retreating back.

"Like a bear in the dead of winter!" she shouted back.

Normally he would have gone after her but for now he was content with her agreement. "See, Vlad, that wasn't so hard. I don't know what you were so worried about," said Dimitri.

Vlad sighed. "Just concentrate on getting the two of you through tonight with minimal injuries."

Dimitri groaned as he was reminded of exactly what he had won in that argument. He glared at Pooka. "What are you looking at?"

The dog just whimpered and turned away huffily.

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I know the chapter is short. Nevertheless, PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Much love, Cat.


	3. In the Still of the Night

Maybe one or two more chapters after this. PLEASE REVIEW!!! Much love, Cat.

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Anya got into bed, the overlarge gray nightshirt sliding abrasively, but oddly comfortingly against her skin. It offered her protection, both from the cold and from the concerns that had been gnawing at her ever since she agreed to share a bed with him. She shifted in the bed and pulled the covers up around her until she was safely ensconced in a cocoon of blankets, a mound of which lay between her and Dimitri's makeshift bed.

The door opened and the very man who had been plaguing her thoughts all evening walked in. And proceeded to take off his shirt.

Previously she had averted her eyes when he was changing as she ordered him to do for her, but tonight she found herself fascinated by the movement of his lean body, the muscles contracting and relaxing as he lifted the shirt over his head and tossed it in the receptacle they used for clothes that needed to be washed. She waited but he didn't don the soft cotton undershirt he usually wore with his trousers to bed.

Seeing her gaze on him and guessing the direction of her thoughts he shrugged. "I don't have anything clean since you've taken to wearing my nightshirts to bed," he said simply.

Anya's eyes widened. Suddenly the comforting woodsy, fresh scent of the nightshirt she wore seemed to become overwhelming masculine and raw wrapping around her and clinging to her skin like a lover's caress in a way that was far from comforting.

"Oh," she replied. "Just...be sure to stay on your side," she commanded.

He frowned then rolled his eyes and settled himself on the chest, pulling the blankets over himself. "As if I would want to...," he mumbled to himself, his voice trailing off as he turned his back to her so she couldn't catch the end of his sentence.

Nevertheless she chose to be offended and turned her back to him, determined not to care what he thought. Her rebellious mind unhelpfully supplied an image of his surprisingly broad shoulders and she felt oddly incomplete and for a moment, wished those strong arms were wrapped around her as they had been last night when he held her as she cried and made her feel more protected and loved that she could ever remember being. Obviously lack of companionship was beginning to fill her mind with sentimental rubbish. Obviously...


	4. I Held You, Held You Tight

Right, I'm trying to give you what you want here, so you give me what I want. I'd like some nice CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM please. I know the story is short and fluffy but you can still give me a nice critique about what you liked and what you didn't and what you think I could improve on/what I should keep doing. Well, we're wrapping this up here. Keeping things sweet and playful, here's the next chapter.

As always, PLEASE REVIEW!!! Much love, Cat.

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Anya was having a terrible or wonderful dream. If one could even call it that. Her mind was providing her with snatches of memories. Or what she assumed were memories. They seemed so foreign, so strange for a penniless orphan to have collected. Yet they seemed so real, so familiar. It was the first time in a long time that the images were so clear, that they were prolonged for even this short period of time. She felt a sense of belonging, of being loved. But just as quickly as the well-dressed people in her dream faded away back into their dream world of glittering jewels and rich autumn colors that feeling disappeared as well.

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Dimitri woke as something collided with his body, his arms instinctively reaching out to wrap around the offending object. He arched his neck back and stretched out his arms, contracting and relaxing the sore muscles of his back. What he wouldn't give for the comforts of a plush, warm featherbed. Once when he had gotten sick they had taken him to an infirmary where he had been allowed to sleep on a proper mattress and a kindly nurse had brought him steaming hot soup daily. It had been a blessing and the closest thing he could remember to being cared for by a parent. He yawned. _What the hell had woken him up?_ He squinted down into the darkness. _Anya_, his mind groggily answered him.

Sighing heavily he lifted her into his arms and shifted her back to her own bed._Blasted woman, never giving him peace even in her sleep._ What he had thought would be the perfect scheme was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth. She had the horrible habit of getting under his skin, provoking him when he was usually cool and collected, enchanting him with her charms in that blue dress when they danced...She was wrong, it was far from a tent, brushing lightly over her legs as she moved, outlining the soft curves of her body, giving him teasing glimpses of what...

_Damn it. _She started to roll back. Rolling his eyes, he slid into bed with her to stop her from falling out and cracking her head open. She instantly nestled up to him, apparently seeking warmth. Her head was pillowed on his chest,her hand resting on his chest, her body curved trustingly towards his. Allowing himself another sigh, he wrapped an arm protectively over her shouldersand fell asleep, deciding not to dwell on how much he enjoyed the feel of her soft warmth against him and the sweet smell of her hair.

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Anya finally settled into a peaceful sleep. The people, the palace was gone. In their place was a handsome young man reaching his hand out to her and holding her in his arms as they stood on the deck of a ship looking out into the night sky. She couldn't see his face or anything about him really, but she knew that he loved her and with that she drifted off.


	5. Hold Me Again With All Of Your Might

OK, now this is the end. I hope you enjoyed reading. PLEASE REVIEW this chapter and perhaps you'll have a new story soon-ish/eventually. Much love, Cat.

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Dimitri squinted slightly, his internal clock awakening him and his body instinctively preparing for the bright rays of sunlight it expected regardless of the fact they were in the lower deck of a ship. He tried pushing himself up on one arm, frowning slightly as he felt the soft weight resting against him, pushing him back down. Sighing, his voice still rough from sleep, he gently lifted her arm from where it crossed over his chest to encircle the back of his neck. Figuring out how to slide out of her grasp when he head was pillowed on his chest and her leg was thrown possessively over his was a bit more difficult, but he was managing it when her eyes suddenly opened, widened, and he clamped a hand over her mouth to hold back the shriek that he felt sure was about to emit from it. "Ow!" he whispered harshly, rearing back and sucking on the patch of flesh where she had bitten him.

"What were you doing?" she asked, accusation ripe in her voice.

"Nothing," he answered defensively. He should have known she would blame him, however unjustly, for her nocturnal maneuvers. "I wasn't the one who attached myself to you like a honeysuckle wrapping around a tree trunk while we were sleeping."

She pursed her lips. "Are you the tree in that analogy because I think you're flattering yourself if you think that…"

He was perched on the side of the bed and getting another good look at all of that impressive masculinity was playing havoc with her reason. "Yes?" he prompted.

"I…"

Dimitri leaned over and gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear that had fallen over her cheek as she argued with him. Somehow he found his hand brushing against her cheek. He marveled at how someone who had lived life as she had could have such soft, delicate skin. It was as though it was something that could not be taken from her, a remnant of who she once was. At first he had been skeptical of her story about not knowing anything about her past…everyone remembered something, whether they wanted to or not, but in time he had come to believe her…come to think that perhaps it might not be so crazy to imagine her as a grand duchess after all. He was getting too involved, getting conned by his own con. He smiled wryly at his own foolishness.

"What?" she asked, unnerved by his strange behavior. She found she preferred it when they were arguing. The way he was with her now, how he had been with her when they danced, it was different, not altogether unpleasant, but…unsettling. It made her want things she couldn't have, things that were impossible.

His eyes were drawn to her lips as she spoke and he found he couldn't look away. Unable to help himself he lowered his head and kissed her gently, his hand rising to thread through her hair, exploring her mouth as though he had all the time in the world to coax a response from her. All the time in the world was far from necessary as she responded almost immediately, untutored but eager. He smiled against her lips, tilting her head back and slowing down the kiss, easing her fervor.

"Dimitri, I…"

Her sweet voice shook him from his reverie, making him realize just what he was doing, what he was jeopardizing by his actions. "That didn't happen. It would complicate things too much. Forget that happened. You just worry about memorizing, ah, relearning the details of Anastasia's life. Your life. You got that?" He left the cabin, the taste of her still searing his lips, the feel of her imprinted on his body.

Anya pressed a hand to her lips as she watched him go, tasting his kiss. It wouldn't be something she would forget easily. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to forget it. "Hmph." She had never let him dictate anything to her before and she certainly wasn't starting now. Licking her lips, she smiled to herself. _Oh no, she wouldn't forget._


End file.
